Thomas Allen Jenckes I (November 2, 1818 – November 4, 1875) was a United States representative from

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. Jenckes was best known for introducing a bill that created the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

. President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

then signed the bill into law on June 22, 1870. Jenckes was also an avid supporter of civil service reform.

Biography

Thomas Jenckes was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island on November 2, 1818. He graduated from Brown University in 1838. Jenckes was admitted to the Rhode Island

state bar A state bar association is a bar association that represents or seeks to represent the attorneys practicing law in a particular U.S. state. Their functions differ from state to state, but often include administration of the state bar examination fo ...

in 1840. He was clerk in the Rhode Island state legislature from 1840 until 1844. From 1854 until 1857 he was a member of the State house of representatives. He was elected as Republican to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

in 1863 and served until 1871 when he lost a bid for reelection. He then resumed the practice of law in Cumberland.

U.S. House of Representatives

Jenckes was first elected to the U.S. House in 1863, defeating Democratic opponent Charles J. Bradley by seventeen percentage points. He was subsequently re-elected three times by landslide margins. During his House tenure, Jenckes was mostly known for introducing legislation which created the

.Shugerman, Jed H. (March 21, 2013)
The Creation of the Department of Justice: Professionalization Without Civil Rights or Civil Service
''The University of Texas at Austin School of Law''. Retrieved February 12, 2022. Contrary to some narratives that suggest this was an effort to bolster

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

policies during the presidency of

and safeguard the constitutional rights of blacks, it was primarily for the purpose of professionalizing legal practice. Indeed, Jenckes "paid little attention" to protecting Southern blacks. Considered a "reformer," Jenckes was an early advocate of civil service reformThomas A. Jenckes Papers: A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress
''Library of Congress''. Retrieved February 12, 2022. and known as "the father of civil service." When he introduced legislation pushing it, fierce opposition was met by

Radical Republican The Radical Republicans (later also known as "Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Recon ...

colleague

John A. Logan John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a st ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, who was concerned with the plight of Southern blacks and called the bill "probably unconstitutional." The enactment of a civil service system to replace the traditional

spoils system In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) as a reward ...

would prevent Republicans from utilizing patronage to benefit blacks, and it was later implemented via the

Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act is a United States federal law passed by the 47th United States Congress and signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur on January 16, 1883. The act mandates that most positions within the federal govern ...

years after Jenckes left office. Having prosecuted fraud implicated in the

Credit Mobilier scandal Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt) ...

, Jenckes' tenure was also marked by his revisions of bankruptcy law and involvement in cases related to Goodyear rubber, the Corliss steam engine, in addition to patents pertaining to refrigeration and ventilation. In the

1870 United States House of Representatives elections Year 187 ( CLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Quintius and Aelianus (or, less frequently, year 940 ''Ab urbe c ...

, Jenckes was defeated by fellow Republican

Benjamin T. Eames Benjamin Tucker Eames (June 4, 1818 – October 6, 1901) was a U.S. Representative from Rhode Island. Born in Dedham, Massachusetts, Eames attended the common schools of Providence, Rhode Island, and academies in Massachusetts and Connecticut. ...

Death

Jenckes died in Cumberland, Rhode Island on November 4, 1875, and is interred at

Swan Point Cemetery Swan Point Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Established in 1846 on a 60-acre (0.24 km2) plot of land, it has approximately 40,000 interments. History The cemetery was first organ ...

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenckes, Thomas 1818 births 1875 deaths Brown University alumni People from Cumberland, Rhode Island Civil service reform in the United States * Burials at Swan Point Cemetery Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island Republican Party members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians

Biography

U.S. House of Representatives

Death

References

Further reading

External links